Analysis of a Thriller Opening Sequence

An effective thriller opening will capture the audience and make them want to continue watching, it will often do this by creating enigmas. The opening titles will also include credit to come cast and crew. Effective thriller openings will establish

the setting and possibly introduce some characters.

What titles are shown?Seven In the opening sequence to seven the first title you see is the production company, this allows the audience to know who had produced and help direct the movie. You then see the names of the people who helped produce the movie. It then shows you the main actors in the movie, this might make the audience more interested in the movie as they are well known actors and people want to watch them. the next shot is the title of the movie; it is superimposed onto a black screen; as it is a black screen the title is the only thing that the audience will be focusing on. The titles then begin to appear with more images, the audience may begin to focus on the images more than the text after this.

Tiles after that include • Music by • edited by• costume design• production design • casting by

They are important as they give credit to people who helped in the production of the movie. People credited at the start of the movie are often the people who has played a big part in the production eg if the film was heavily music based they will often include all of the people that helped with music in the opening credits

How do the titles fit into the narrative?

The Walking Dead• The opening title of The Walking dead reveals a lot of the narrative through the opening credits. The shots

shown, the shots go in chronological order of things that happen in the episodes; they reveal key settings and props. The first shot shows a shot of abandoned cars, this helps to set the scene for the first episode as it shows that their has been panic and chaos. It then also shows props for characters that you are introduce to throughout the season; such as Rick and his police badge. it also has the name of the actor next to its prop that has been superimposed on to the image. The settings also help to fit into the narrative as the order they appear in the opening credits is the order they appear in the episodes. The effect on the shots can also be linked to the narrative; it has a grunge/ decaying effect to it that can be linked to the walkers (zombies) and that the world is slowly ending and people are dying.

How does this sequence engage your interest?

The walking dead The walking dead opening sequence engages your interest as it visits lots of locations and shows you different props; you become interested in what they are and what events will happen in the locations. As it is a series you only watch part of it each week the opening sequence will make you want to keep watching as you want to discover more about what is happening in the opening sequence each week and what will happen here. It also shows you characters props this may engage the audience as you want to learn who the characters are and how they are connected to the prop. For example in the opening sequence you are shown a shot of Hershel's watch, you become engaged as to who's it is and why it is there. It may also engage peoples interests as the opening title immediatelysets the genre of a thriller, you see scenes of abandoned cars and buildingsyou become intrigued as to why they are like this and you want to continue watching.

How is typography used?

The typography starts in a serif font it is a font that connotes formality and maturity. So you get the impression that the film will be a serious and mature film. It then jumps to what looks like a child's hand writing in a uv lighting, it also looks quite psychotic, its not in straight lines and looks like it has pain splattered around it. It then cuts back to serif font this shows how the main character is actually a lot older than expected and how she is quite psychotic. It shows her doing mature things such as putting on make up and it matches the serif font, it then cuts to her doing messy painting and writing showing her double personality. The text in uv lighting is significant to what happens in the film as it reveals the secret that the girl has been keeping and that she is dangerous.

How is camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene used in the title sequence?

American Horror Story• American Horror Story uses editing very effectively in its opening sequence, it uses very fast pace editing

to create tension and mystery in within the opening sequence. The shots are so quickly together that it can be difficult to see what the shot it and creates enigmas. The sequence cuts between shots of images and text of actors names this happens abruptly and can create a jump. The sound is quite muffled and difficult to distinguish instruments or any type of sound, this also helps to create mystery. The sound slowly builds up and gets louder and more sounds are added, this builds tension as it makes it sound like it is building up and something is about to happen.

• The opening sequence I mostly made up of pictures of infants and an old science laboratory. The images have a vintage effect on them and later in the sequence you see shots of them on fire, meaning they could be dangerous or harmful. there is also shots of small unhuman creature in jars all chopped up; they look like they have been experimented on and something unhuman could have been created or ungodly. The lighting is very dark and this helps to create the mysterious atmosphere.

How does the sequence indicate genre? What enigmas are created and how?

This shot shows an extreme long shot/ establishing shot. This helps to indicate genre as it shows an isolated place and if you were to be there you would be helpless and alone. It creates enigmas such as where are you? And is it a safe place?

This is the first shot where you are introduced to characters, it shows a long shot from behind of the two men. As it is a long shot you can see the surroundings and that they are in a very isolated place and if they were to get into danger they could not easily get help. You can see that one man is a police officer arresting the other; the other man is in all black and it makes him seem mysterious and that he could be dangerous as the connotations are death so it immediately creates enigmas such as why is he being arrested? Has he murdered someone?

You then get a close up of a possible weapon or something that the police officer has taken off the man he is arresting. This would create enigmas for the audience as it is not a typical weapon and they may question what it is.

No Country for Old MenThe next shot is a mid shot for the two characters, you can not see the second character; this indicates genre as the antagonists identity is often kept a mystery from the audience until later on. This makes him a mysterious figure and the audience may question his identity and who he is.

The final shot in the opening is another extreme long shot. You see the police car driving off into a isolate surrounding; as they are so alone this can indicate genre as it is often the protagonist and antagonist alone together face to face in thriller movies. The audience may begin to create enigmas such as, what will happen next? And if they are both safe?